What is an IBAN Code ?

The International Bank Account Number (IBAN) is an internationally agreed system of identifying bank accounts across national borders to facilitate the communication and processing of cross border transactions with a reduced risk of transcription errors. It was originally adopted by the European Committee for Banking Standards (ECBS), and later as an international standard under ISO 13616:1997. The current standard is ISO 13616:2007, which indicates SWIFT as the formal registrar. Initially developed to facilitate payments within the European Union, it has been implemented by most European countries and many countries in the developing world, especially in the Middle East and in the Caribbean. As at September 2014, 66 countries were using the IBAN numbering system. The IBAN consists of up to 34 alphanumeric characters, comprising a country code, two check digits and a long and detailed bank account-number. The check digits enable a sanity check of the bank account number to confirm its integrity before submitting a transaction.